


I'll Always be Around

by Anonymous



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: Character Study, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, F/M, Fandom study
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-03
Updated: 2020-07-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:15:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25056058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: a story about the developing relationship between Akechi Goro and ReaderHe rounds a corner too fast, you’re on your phone. The two of you softly hit the other, not enough to injure but enough to jarr you two out of your thoughts.He smiles at you. “I’m sorry-““Don’t worry about it.” You reply, “I wasn’t watching where I was going.”Like the perfect gentleman, he bows his head a little, “I must still apologize to a beautiful girl like yourself.”
Relationships: Akechi Goro & Reader, Akechi Goro/Reader
Comments: 31
Kudos: 38
Collections: Anonymous





	I'll Always be Around

You first meet him during the school trip to the TV station. 

He’s being interviewed, his smile’s perfect for the cameras but when your eyes meet in the crowd you can feel your heartbeat ratchet up a few notches. His expressions screams out to you about how much he doesn’t want to be there, about how he needs somebody to pull him away from the flashing lights and pressing questions. 

You hear a girl beside you, your friend, sighing dreamily, she whispers to you, hand covering her mouth so she doesn’t get caught by the teachers- “ _ He’s so dreamy…” _

She looks at you, eyes sparkling and you feel in that moment that you don’t know her at all. She’s been your friend for months now, but she can’t see that the man on stage is bone-tired exhausted and instead catches onto just his  _ appearance.  _

“You don’t  _ know _ him.” You say, more sharply than intended. “You can’t just like somebody because of appearance, leave him alone you don’t know him.” 

Your friend jerks back, surprised. “Yeah.” She nods, numbly, “Yeah I guess you're right.” 

\--

You google him during the break, when you have to do some menial work around the station for your school. 

He’s famous, duh, but you didn’t expect him to be  _ smart _ too. He’s solved so many cases! He’s really impressive for a highschooler! 

You memorize his name, _Goro_ _Akechi_ , and you glance at a few articles that he’s been mentioned in. 

You're walking through the back hallways to get to the bathroom when you accidentally run into him, bodily. 

He rounds a corner too fast, you’re on your phone. The two of you softly hit the other, not enough to injure but enough to jarr you two out of your thoughts. 

He smiles at you. “I’m sorry-“ 

“Don’t worry about it.” You reply, “I wasn’t watching where I was going.” 

Like the perfect gentleman, he bows his head a little, “I must still apologize to a beautiful girl like yourself.” 

You  _ blush _ , feeling your cheeks heat up. 

He walks away, waving to you once as he disappears down the hall. 

—

From then on you see him  _ everywhere.  _

On the TV, in the news, on posters and phones. Your classmates talk about him, your friends all chatter lively about his cases, and of course the  _ Phantom Thieves.  _

“I think that it’s kinda cool.” Your friend says, conspiracy-like during lunch. She’s facing backwards in her chair, her bento on your desk and right next to yours. “It’s like- Sherlock and Lupin!” 

“You think so?” You ask, checking twitter feeds and liking a linked article to Akechi’s newest interview. 

“Thieves vs a great detective? I do!” Your friend laughs a little bit. “It’s like we’re living in a story, I kinda wanna see the final showdown-“ 

“You don’t think that Akechi would win?” You ask, genuinely curious. 

Your friend thinks about it for a second, “I think he probably will, but that’s not keeping me from wanting to think about how cool the final fight would be.” She pouts a little bit. “Like, an epic chase! Or an intense interrogation scene!” 

“There’s not going to be anything like that.” You say, laughing at her, “What are you? A preschooler?” 

Your friend stops fiddling with her chopsticks. “You,” she stops, thinking about the words to say, “Do you think it’s not going to be dramatic?” 

“ _ No _ .” You tap your own chopsticks on hers, “I think the law’s going to win, I just don’t want there to be anybody that gets hurt. They’re going to arrest the people that need to get arrested and that’s that.” 

Your friend thinks about it for a moment, cocking her head. “Your right.” She says, “I don’t want anybody to get hurt either.” 

—

You see him again at the train station, he’s standing with his briefcase and checking his phone. 

You  _ have _ to talk to him. 

It takes a second, but you build up your courage. “Hello!” You say, a little too fast and a little too loud. You startled him, you can tell. “Sorry, I- I wanted to just say hello again-“ 

“You visited the TV station when my first interview went live, didn’t you?” He asks, smiling the same smile he did last time. 

He  _ remembered!  _

“Y-Yeah!” You can feel your face burst into a bright red, but you also feel a small smile burst onto your face. “I did, I wanted to meet you again, just to thank you for the work you are doing on the Phantom Thief case.” 

“It’s nothing.” His voice is smooth as silk and you feel it wrap around your brain like butter. “I work on the case for the sake of the safety of citizens like yourself.” 

You feel like you're just a little more in love with him. His smile tells you that he feels the same way. 

—

“Ah! The Phantom Thieves!” Your friend shows you her phone at lunch, “They stole another heart!” 

You read over the headline, and can feel your heart drop. “This is going to mean trouble for Goro-“ 

Your friend huffs. “Is that all you ever think about?” 

You bristle, not liking the smile on her face. “Do you  _ support _ the Phantom Thieves?!” 

She seems taken aback. Surprised. “M-Maybe! If they take down people who deserve it!” 

“They’re breaking the  _ law!”  _ You tell her, amazed that your friend can support this awful cause. 

“They’re not hurting anybody!” She defends. “They’re helping people, they just make the bad guys confess, they listen when people go on their forums and ask for help-“ 

“You are supporting criminals!” You can’t even  _ begin _ to believe that she’s been brainwashed by their blackmail scheme. “You shouldn’t go onto their forum! It just eggs them on! Report them!” 

“If you don’t like their forum then just don’t go on it, there’s no reason to report them.” 

“I can’t go anywhere on the internet without hearing about them. I don’t see why I shouldn’t call them out if I see that they’re doing wrong.” 

Your friend flushes, angry red in the face. She takes her bento, turns in her seat, and leaves. 

—

You meet with Goro again, the train station crowded enough that it’s a struggle to be near him. 

You snag his attention anyway, getting close enough to call out to him when a man accidentally bumps into you, making you trip. 

You feel your center of gravity tilt, and you  _ know _ your knees are going to be scraped for the rest of the day but- 

Goro catches you. 

_ Like in the romance movies!  _

Goro helps you stand straight again, brushing off the dirt from your shoulders. “Are you alright?” 

God he’s so thoughtful. He’s a gentleman through and through and you know that he’s the man to whom your heart belongs. The way that he’s checking you for injuries, making sure you have your feet solidly under you, the way he remembers you still from your few glancing meetings make it clear to you that he feels the embers of something similar. 

“I’m fine.” You manage to eek out. “Thank you, again.” 

He cocks his head, looking you over once more. “Your welcome, anytime.” He smiles, that same dreamy smile. “Especially for someone like you.” 

—

You and your friend don’t talk anymore. She sits with other girls now, a cluster of them all near the front of the classroom. They chat and they talk and they’re so  _ loud _ . They laugh and it grates at your skin, you know they’re talking about you. 

They sometimes do glance over, but it’s nothing that lasts long and usually it only happens once every other week. 

You continue to check up on Goro. See how he’s doing. See that he’s getting farther along in the Phantom Thief case, sometimes you check up on the Phantom Thieves website to see how the desperate people wail into the abyss in hopes that these criminals will blackmail their enemies for them. 

It’s during one of your lunch periods when you see  _ your own name _ on a request. 

How  _ dare.  _

_ How dare your friend do this to you?! _

You get so mad, so  _ angry _ . She was your friend? And she’s done this to you? She put your name, your interests, your  _ secrets _ out into the world without your permission onto a site so that people can laugh at you? This isn’t right! This is horrible! They think this is okay?! 

You’ve been respectful of your friends ideas! You’ve been respectful of her! And she’s done this to you? 

You stand up, furiously crying as you reread the request. 

You’ve done  _ nothing _ wrong! You weren’t on the side of criminals here! You wanted to be left alone and admire Goro but-! 

You stomp up to your friend, slamming your phone onto the desk she’s using as a lunch table. 

Your friend reads the request, written on the screen for all to see. 

She looks at you, chin set and determined. 

“That wasn’t me.” 

“Like hell it wasn’t.” You spit back at her. “You had  _ no right _ to do this.” 

She stands, ignoring the stares of the other girls around her. Ignoring the stares of the entire  _ classroom _ . “I didn’t fucking write that.” 

“Who else could it have been, you- you drama loving toxic  _ bitch”  _

Your friend clenches her fists. “I. Did. Not. Write. That.” 

“Who fucking did then?!” You demand. You  _ need to know _ . “This is bullying! This is slander! This is  _ defamation _ !” 

Your friend glares at you, sad and mad and angry and righteous all at once. She picks up her lunch again, packs it slowly, hands shaking, and  _ leaves.  _

You’re left standing in the front of the class like an  _ idiot.  _ The entire class is stunned into silence, looking at you. 

—

You meet up with Goro again, this time at a small cafe. 

He’s sitting at the bar, waiting for you. Like he always is. You love him, you love him with all of your heart and you know that all the people who think otherwise are wrong. 

You walk up next to him, and sit down heavily. 

Goro startles, blinking at you from where he sips his coffee. 

He’s beautiful, with his hair slightly wet from the rain outside and his eyes wide from where he takes the sight of you in. You rarely see him out of uniform, he usually does public events after school so he rarely changes out of the prestigious school blazer. 

“My friend posted about me to the Phantom Thieves.” You say, sadly. “They’re going to be after me now.” 

“I’m sorry to hear that.” He says, his voice as velvet as it always is. He sounds so  _ cute _ . 

“What do I do?” You ask, looking askance at him, peaking through our eyelashes. 

“Take it to the police if you're that worried about it.” He puts down his coffee. “Or if it’s just a bullying problem go to your school administrators-“ 

“I want them to  _ stop _ .” You say. “I want them to know that you're going to end up on top of this fight, not the Phantom Thieves. They’re  _ wrong _ .” 

Goro shifts, is the chair uncomfortable? “I’m glad you have faith in my abilities, but please if this is a bullying problem go to the schools-“ 

“I want them to know they’re  _ wrong.”  _ You say, trying to get him to understand. “The school’s not going to punish them like I want them to be.” 

Goro stands now. “I’m not sure what you're getting at.” 

You stand too, if he’s leaving you are leaving too. “They’re not going to stop bullying me. They hate me. I just want to do my own thing but they won’t stop.” 

You grab onto his sleeve, begging him to understand but-

Goro yanks his arm away from you. He’s not smiling anymore, he looks  _ furious _ . 

“Don’t fucking touch me.” He hisses, nose flared and voice hard and flat. “Don’t  _ touch _ me.” 

You stumble back. He doesn’t catch you now. “But- but  _ Goro- _ “ 

“Don’t use my name either.” He’s pulling away from you, angry and mad. “If you  _ ever _ speak to me again I’m bringing you directly to the station on charges of stalking.” 

You're not a stalker. You’re  _ not.  _

“But- but-!” You don’t know how it’s all gone so downhill so fast. You aren’t in the wrong here. 

You  _ aren’t.  _

“I’m not interested in you. Do you understand?” Goro’s face shouldn’t make that expression, but it can and it’s directed at  _ you _ . “Do  _ not _ try and contact me again. Don’t hunt me down in public and don’t you ever touch me again.” 

“You don’t understand!” You try and reason with him. You try to make him get that your not one of those people- 

“I don’t care. Do you get this? I  _ do not care _ .” 

Goro just  _ leaves.  _

Not caring that he’s broken your heart in the process. 

**Author's Note:**

> There's something I haven't told before  
> And if I left I'd hope you'd stop me  
> And kick my boxes from the left  
> Keep me 'round to see what I'd endure  
> 'Cause I'm dying to be your everything, everything
> 
> \- I'll Always be Around (Waterparks)
> 
> 1.) you dont know who i am dont bother
> 
> 2.) this is a commentary on fandom views on this character, inspiration taken from multiple people 
> 
> 3.) yell all you want i dont care


End file.
